Maia Sharp has released several albums during her time in Los Angeles, but has been better known as a âsongwritersâ songwriter,â penning tunes for the likes of The Chicks, Lisa Loeb and Trisha Yearwood. After moving to Nashville, Sharp looked up guitarist Joshua Grange to record the tracks at his Resistor Studio, and Ryan Hewitt mixed the resulting album.
Sharp collaborated with a host of songwriters to come up with a dozen original tunes. The resulting
Mercy Rising (Crooked Crown Records) is a classic among songwriter albums.
Sharpâs delivery has the husky, frank, not-gonna-lie quality found in Canadian songwriters Kathleen Edwards and Sarah Harmer. Grangeâs mixing brings Sharpâs voice to the fore so the listener canât push the music into the background. The lyrics in tracks like âBackburnerâ and âNot Your Friendâ more than live up to what the music demands. In fact, as one stunning song follows another, itâs hard to id